Girl in the Tower
by Elsadisney
Summary: A young girl with very long blonde hair lives with her mother in her tower. When a strange man comes along, will she be able to stay in the tower or will she go with him? Sequel to Missing Mother.
1. Mother's Home

A young girl sat in her tower, brushing her long blonde hair. She sighed. She was so very bored.

"What should I do, Pascal?" she asked.

Pascal shrugged.

Just then, the girl heard a sound. "Flower!"

She ran to the window. Mother was home!

"Flower, let down your hair!"

The girl smiled and threw her hair down. Her long golden locks flew out the window and nearly touched the ground. Her mother grabbed on to the golden hair, and the girl pulled her up. Mother was soon inside, taking off her big black cloak that hid her hair and face.

The girl smiled as she saw her mother's familiar green eyes and short brown hair. Her mother had told her that her hair had been long and blonde once, just like the girl's was, until she had cut it and it had turned brown.

"Hello, Mother," said the girl.

Mother held out her arms. The girl ran into them, and was caught in a hug. "I missed you, Sunflower," said Mother.

Sunflower smiled. "I've missed you too, Mother. There's not much to do around here without anyone."

"You have Pascal," said her mother.

Sunflower frowned. "Pascal, he doesn't really talk," she said.

Her mother smiled. "That's true, but he has other ways of communicating."

Sunflower laughed as Pascal walked out from behind her mother's hair. He had been her mother's pet when she was young, and he had always liked her better. But her mother never let the chamelion come along when she left home, and on those occasions, Pascal was left with Sunflower.

Sunflower sometimes wondered about Mother's past. She had never talked much about it. All Sunflower knew was that when Mother was young, she had lived in the tower with her mother, and one day she had left the tower against the wishes of her mother. Because of that, her mother had died. Sunflower knew what her mother's mother had looked like from a painting in her mother's room. She'd had light blue eyes and curly black hair. Sunflower sometimes wondered why her mother didn't look anything like that woman, but she decided her mother's father had given her the looks. She knew that she herself had gotten her brown eyes from her father, most likely.

But Sunflower knew there was more to the story than just that. Her mother had told her that if anyone ever came looking for her, not to let on that she even knew her. And there were floating lights that only came out every year on her mother's birthday. Also, her mother never went outside very much, only to get the basics, and always at night.

She wanted to know what was the reason for those, but she knew her mother wouldn't tell her. There had to be a reason why her mother was hiding from the world, but so far Sunflower hadn't figured it out.


	2. Missing Princess

"Rapunzel!" cried Eugene.

He'd been searching for her almost eighteen years now. Ever since she'd disappeared on her birthday, he'd been tirelessly searching.

Who had taken her? He had no idea. It couldn't have been Gothel, she was long dead. He didn't know of any other person who would have wanted to take her. Or, and this question terrified him even more, had she gone of her own free will?

He rode Maximus in his unending search. He knew his old self, Flynn Rider, had everything he'd ever wanted. Riches, and a kingdom. After marrying Rapunzel, he'd become the prince of Corona. But he would never rest until he found her.

It was morning now, and he thought he heard a sound in the bushes. But it was only a rabbit. He got off his horse and put his hand out to lean against the wall. But it wasn't a wall, and he fell right through.

The tower! He couldn't believe that, in all those years, he had never thought to look there. He walked through the tunnel until he saw the tower.

There it was, looking exactly as it had the day he'd taken Rapunzel away from it. He ran to it and began to climb.

He soon reached the top and climbed into the window. "Rapunzel?" he cried. Then he heard a sound and turned around. There was a girl holding a frying pan, about to hit him.

"Don't hit me!" he cried. Then he looked at the girl. She had long blonde hair, a scared look on her face, and a purple dress. He'd finally found her.

"Rapunzel, it's you," he said. "But how did your hair..."

He trailed off. The girl's eyes were wrong. She has brown eyes. Rapunzel didn't have brown eyes.

"You're not Rapunzel, are you," he said.

The girl shook her head.

"Do you know anyone by the name of Rapunzel?" he asked.

The girl shook her head again.

Eugene felt defeated. He had been so close, but yet so far away.


	3. I Don't Know Her

Sunflower, with her frying pan raised above her head, stared at the man standing in front of her. When she'd said she didn't know Rapunzel, he looked so sad she didn't know what to do. She lowered her frying pan, and wondered how this man knew her mother.

She couldn't just let him stand there with that heartbreaking look on his face. So she asked, "Who are you, anyway?"

The man looked up at her. "The name's F-" He stopped talking, and Sunflower wondered why. Then he said, "Eugene. Eugene Fitzherbert."

"Who is Rapunzel?" asked Sunflower.

Eugene said, "She is my wife."

Sunflower nearly dropped her frying pan. She tried to hide her shock. Eugene couldn't know that she'd even heard the name Rapunzel before.

He went on, "She went missing about eighteen years ago. I've been trying to find her ever since, but I have no idea what happened to her."

Sunflower nodded, her mind in shock from what she had just learned. But she shook her head. Mother had told her that sometimes people don't tell the truth. Maybe this Eugene was lying. But she had to admit, it was a good reason for her mother's behavior, better than any reason that she had ever thought up. But why would her mother run away from this man? He seemed like a nice person.

Eugene broke her out of her thoughts. "Why.. Why did you shake your head?" he asked.

Sunflower said quickly, "I've never heard of her, that's all."

But then a thought ran through her, one that made her nearly gasp in shock. If what he was saying was true, then that meant...

She looked at him. He had brown eyes, just like her. But maybe brown eyes were common. But with the story that he told...

"I hope you find her," said Sunflower. "If you do..." She mustered up the strength to ask him what she wanted to ask. "If you do, come back here and tell me."


	4. Never Left the Tower

"Why don't you come with me?" asked Eugene.

Sunflower was shocked. "What?"

Eugene looked embarrassed. "It's just, you remind me of Rapunzel, and I thought maybe..."

Sunflower shook her head. "No. I've never left this tower and I'm not going to."

Eugene looked surprised. "Never? Why not?"

"I'm not allowed to," she said.

"Overprotective mother?" asked Eugene.

Sunflower said, "It's for a good reason."

"I'm not going through this again," muttered Eugene. "You're leaving whether you like it or not."

He hooked her hair over the hook she used to pull her mother up and pushed her out the window! "Grab onto your hair and slide down!" he called.

Sunflower, who was falling quickly, did so. She began sliding down her hair, and couldn't resist letting out a whoop of delight as she felt the breeze flying past her face. But then her feet touched grass for the first time.

Wow! The grass was soft, and Sunflower had never felt anything like it. But then she looked, panicking, up at the tower. How would she ever get back up there? And, more importantly, what would happen to her mother?

Eugene, who had been climbing down the tower, jumped to the ground. "Let's go, Blondie."

He put his arm around her shoulder and began pushing her closer to the secret exit that her mother went through when she left. Sunflower had never been through the tunnel. She wondered what was out there.

She started walking. After all, she didn't really have a choice. And if they did find her mother, Sunflower had things to ask her.


	5. Freedom Turned Sour

Rapunzel sat in the bushes right outside of the entrance to the hidden valley the tower was in. She'd been about to enter when she had seen a horse standing next to the leaves that held her secret. She had recognized the horse as Maximus, and hoped he didn't have as good of a sense of smell as he'd had eighteen years ago. Somehow, he hadn't smelled her, and she'd watched silently as the rider dismounted and fell through the curtain of leaves.

She thought she knew who the rider was. It would make sense that he would be looking for her. Actually, the whole kingdom was looking for her. She was very careful every time she left the tower. She dressed in her mother's big cloak, which was a bit large on her as her mother had been taller than her. But she was glad of that, as the cloak hid her hair and face. She also only left at night, and avoided people as much as she could.

She had once tried to plant a garden in the hidden valley, but she wasn't any good at gardening, unlike her mother had been. All the plants had wilted and died soon after she had planted them.

Now, she was waiting, still and silent, hoping that the rider hadn't found Sunflower, hoping that if he had, Sunflower hadn't told him anything. She really hoped Sunflower hadn't decided to leave the tower. She didn't think her daughter would do something like that, but after all, Sunflower was her daughter.

Rapunzel remembered the day she had left her tower. Freedom had been fun at first, but had turned sour. She remembered that horrible day, the last day she'd seen her mother. And she remembered the lonely days in the castle, when she had longed for her mother.

Yes, she knew from experience that the tower was best. But Sunflower didn't have that experience. Rapunzel hoped she would never have to have that experience.

Just then, the rider came out of the hidden valley with someone. They got on the horse and rode off, the other someone's long, blonde hair flying in the wind.

"Sunflower!" cried Rapunzel, but they were already too far to hear. Rapunzel stood up. She would follow them. She had to make sure her daughter returned home safely. She walked after the end of the long, flowing hair, trying to shrink even further into her cloak. She hoped that she would not be recognized.


	6. Ruffians and Thugs

Sunflower was on top of a big animal that Eugene had called a horse. It was running fast, and Sunflower's hair was streaming behind her. The weight of her hair nearly pulled her off the horse, so she was holding on tightly to Eugene. They were going so fast that it was kind of scary, but, Sunflower realized, it was actually kind of fun.

They stopped when they got to a building. A sign out front read, The Snuggly Duckling.

"Why are we stopping?" asked Sunflower.

Eugene smiled. "We're just going to see some friends of mine."

Sunflower looked at him. "O-kay."

They got off the horse, and Sunflower realized she could run back to her tower. She looked at the road leading back to the tower.

"Are you coming?" asked Eugene, who was walking ahead of her.

Sunflower looked at him, then at the road again. Should she make a run for it?

But if she ran, he could easily just grab hold of her hair. And she wouldn't be able to get back inside her tower even if she did make it.

It was at this kind of time that she wished she didn't have long hair. But what would she do without it? She needed her hair, to heal. She couldn't just cut it off like her mother had. Once, Sunflower had opened a dresser in her mother's room, and found in it a very long, long length of brown hair. She knew it was her mother's hair as soon as she had seen it. After that, she had wondered, had her mother cut off her hair in the tower? And why? Her mother had never told her.

She decided to go with Eugene. There would be no gain in trying to get away.

But as soon as they entered the Snuggly Duckling, Sunflower regretted her decision. The place was full of evil-looking men. She knew as soon as she saw them.

"You brought me to a place full of ruffians and thugs?" cried Sunflower.


	7. Mother Gothel

Eugene looked at the girl curiously. She sounded so much like Rapunzel, and had been locked up in Rapunzel's tower by an overprotective mother just like Rapunzel had. He suddenly wondered who this overprotective mother was. Was it Gothel, somehow back from the dead?

"So, um," Eugene started, realizing that he didn't know her name. "What's your name, anyways?"

"My name is Sunflower," the girl half whispered. "Why are we here, in a place with ruffians and thugs?"

She looked terrified, and Eugene decided he had to reassure her. "The guys here are my friends. I'm just checking in to see if they have seen or heard anything about Rapunzel."

It didn't seem to reassure Sunflower in the least. She was just as nervous as before.

A man with a hook on his hand came up to Eugene. "You found her!" he cried.

Eugene shook his head. "No, it's not her. She just looks very much like her. I found her in Rapunzel's tower."

Then, he felt a strange, creepy feeling like someone was watching him. He turned to the window, and saw a figure wearing a dark cloak. Whoever it was ducked out of sight as soon as he looked that way. But now he was scared. There was no denying it, the figure was wearing Gothel's cloak. And if his suspicions were true, that meant Gothel had come back from the dead, and maybe kidnapped Sunflower, just like she had Rapunzel.


	8. Flower Gleam and Glow

Sunflower felt very uneasy. She was in this place full of RUFFIANS AND THUGS, and Eugene had said they were his friends! And if what he had said about Rapunzel was true, that these guys might have heard something about her, then it made Sunflower really wonder what her mother had been hiding in her secret past.

To make matters worse, Eugene suddenly got a scared look on his face and said, "We need to get out of here, now!"

Sunflower felt her heart beating much faster than it normally did. A ruffian, or maybe it was a thug, pulled a lever, and there was suddenly a tunnel in the wall. Eugene pulled her to it, and they were soon walking through a pitch black tunnel.

"So," he said, "Who is this overprotective mother that kept you in the tower, anyway?"

Sunflower frowned. "She's not overprotective. She has a good reason to keep me there."

Eugene sighed. "And what is this good reason?"

Sunflower couldn't tell him that! If she did, he would probably figure out who her mother was, if he was really telling the truth about her. "I can't tell you," she said.

Eugene groaned. "Well..." There was a long silence, and Sunflower hoped that he'd forgotten about his questioning. But then he started talking again. "Does the name Gothel mean anything to you?"

Sunflower nearly tripped over her own feet. She accidentally let out a gasp. Gothel was her mother's mother's name! Eugene must have been on to her. He had figured it out! But at least he didn't know where her mother was. She wished she could tell her mother not to come back to the tower.

But she still had hope. "I don't know her," she said. It was true, she didn't know Gothel, who had died before she had been born.

"Oh really?" asked Eugene. "What's your mother's name?"

Sunflower was glad it was too dark for him to see her face, which would surely give her away. "M-mother," she said.

"Oh, come on," said Eugene. "What's her real name, the one everyone else calls her?"

"I don't know," said Sunflower, trying to sound believable. "I only call her Mother."

Eugene sighed. "So, if you don't know that, tell me the reason why she keeps you in the tower."

"No," said Sunflower. "I can't tell you that."

Eugene asked, "Is it because you have a special power? Magic hair, for example?"

How had Eugene known that? Her mother must have told him about her own magic hair that she'd had, Sunflower realized. And since it passed down to her, Eugene must have figured out that she was Rapunzel's daughter. But she couldn't let him know she had magic hair. If he didn't know, there was a chance he would think she wasn't Rapunzel's daughter.

I don't have any special powers," said Sunflower.

But to her horror, Eugene began singing her special song. "Flower, gleam and glow..."

Sunflower screamed, "No!"

She saw the tunnel getting brighter, and felt the glow start coming from the roots of her hair.

He'd figured it out, she knew. It was only a matter of time before he found her mother.


	9. Frying Pan

Eugene had it all figured out now. Somehow, Gothel had come back to life and found another girl with magical hair, and kidnapped her like she had Rapunzel, and raised her, pretending she was Sunflower's mother. That would explain why Sunflower was so much like Rapunzel.

The golden glow of Sunflower's hair lit up the tunnel, and Eugene could see her face. She looked sad, and he realized that she knew that he knew. From the glow, he could see the exit of the tunnel. He knew that he had to get her far away from Gothel, and that he needed to return her to her real parents.

The glow faded, and he grabbed Sunflower's hand and ran towards the exit he'd seen, pulling her along. They came out into the sunlight, and Eugene blinked in the sudden brightness. While his eyes got used to the light, he thought about where he could go that Gothel wouldn't find them. He realized that to keep Sunflower from being kidnapped again, he would have to kill Gothel again.

But before he could think how to go about and do it, he felt something metal hit his head hard. Before he lost consciousness, he realized that he'd been hit by a frying pan.


	10. The Secret is Out

Rapunzel, hiding in her mother's big cloak, was standing outside of the exit to the secret tunnels. She knew where they were, as she had once run through them. Then, she heard the healing song, and her daughter's scream of, "No!"

Of course the rider knew the healing song, and now she knew for certain who he was. She also now knew her daughter had kept her secret. Why else would she be so distressed when her healing song was sung?

After a few minutes, Rapunzel saw Eugene and Sunflower run out of the cave. He hadn't seen her yet, though, and as he was blinking in the sunlight, Rapunzel took that moment to whack him in the head with her trusty frying pan.

He fell over to the ground, letting go of Sunflower's arm. He was out cold.

"Mother!" cried Sunflower. She ran to Rapunzel, and Rapunzel wrapped her in a big hug.

Sunflower was crying now. "He knows everything," she cried. "I tried to keep it a secret, but he got it out of me."

"Shh, shh," said Rapunzel. "Don't worry, I know it wasn't your fault. Let's go back to the tower where we'll be safe."

Sunflower cried, "He knows where it is now! He will just come back and find us!"

Rapunzel frowned. "I know, but there's nowhere else we can go that's safe. Someone else would recognize me. It's better he finds us than someone else."

Sunflower got a funny look on her face. "How many people are looking for you? And what all have you been hiding from me my entire life?"

Rapunzel sighed. She had hoped she would never have to tell Sunflower. But here she was, asking these questions. She couldn't lie to her daughter.

"I'll tell you when we get back home," she said.


	11. Who Is My Mother

Sunflower smiled. She would finally be getting some answers. She followed her mother as they went through the forest, though hidden ways she knew her mother must have taken when she left the tower. They finally got home, and Sunflower suddenly wondered how she would get back inside.

But her mother opened a secret door on the side of the tower, one Sunflower had never known about, and they walked up a dusty staircase that Sunflower also had not known about. They got into the tower through a trapdoor in the floor, and Sunflower wondered how many other secret things in her tower she didn't know about.

"Why did you never tell me about this?" asked Sunflower.

Her mother sighed. "I never told you about it because I thought you would want to leave that way. If I had known about it as a child, I would have left through it."

Sunflower nodded. "Now, tell me about your past. I need to know, Mother."

Her mother asked, "What did he tell you about me?"

Sunflower took a deep breath. "He said he's been looking for you, and that you had gone missing. He said... He said you were his wife, Mother. Is that true?"

Her mother looked worried. "Yes, Sunflower. That is true."

Sunflower gasped. She hadn't expected that answer. She hadn't thought it was true. "Mother, does that mean he's my... father?"

Her mother nodded slowly.

"Mother, why... Why did you run away?"

Her mother frowned. "It wasn't because of him. It was because... Well, I wasn't happy there. I was very sad, because I had just lost my mother, and they... they didn't care."

Sunflower nodded. "Who were they, Mother?"

"They..." Her mother looked tired, and sad. "They are also looking for me."

"How many are they, Mother?"

Her mother frowned. "Way too many. I have to be very careful when I go out."

Then Sunflower had a realization. "The floating lights, Mother. On your birthday. Is it they who send them?"

Mother nodded.

Sunflower frowned. But who would have that many floating lights? And why would they send them for her mother's birthday, if they didn't care?

"Mother," Sunflower asked, "Who are you?"


	12. I Am Not the Lost Princess

Rapunzel sighed. She had told Sunflower nearly everything. But she couldn't tell Sunflower who she was to the world. She couldn't tell her that she was the princess.

She hated that part of her life. She wanted to get away from it, to get it out of her past. But that was impossible. She didn't have to let Sunflower know about it, though. She had to make up an excuse.

"Mother's feeling tired, Flower," she said, surprised at how much she sounded like her own mother had. "Will you sing for me?"

Sunflower nodded, and sat down on the stool that Rapunzel had always sat on when she was a child. Rapunzel took the hairbrush that her mother had used to brush her hair, and that she used now to brush her daughter's hair. She began brushing Sunflower's hair, and Sunflower began to sing.


	13. You Have To Kill Her

Eugene sat up, groaning as he felt the bump on his head. Who had hit him? And more importantly, he realized as he looked around, where was Sunflower?

It had to have been Gothel! She had hit him while he was distracted and took Sunflower! He only hoped they had gone to the tower. That way, he would be able to find them.

He raced to the place where he knew the tower was hidden. He pushed through the curtain of leaves and ran to the tower. There it was, tall and foreboding. He was about to call for Sunflower, but stopped. Better not to announce himself. He knew how that had gone the last time.

He began to climb the tower. He finally reached the top and looked through the window. He could see Sunflower, sitting on the floor. She wasn't tied up, which was good.

She saw him then. A scared look appeared on her face, and Eugene got worried. What was Gothel going to do to her if she saw him. He didn't want to find out, so he took action.

"Sunflower!" he said. "Don't trust her. She's lying to you!"

Sunflower shook her head. "She told me everything."

"She's not your real mother!" cried Eugene. "She stole you when you were a child!"

Sunflower looked at him. "What?"

"She's using you for your hair!" he cried. "You have to get rid of her, Sunflower! You have to kill her!"


	14. Gothel Is Right Behind You

_You have to kill her._

Those words snapped Sunflower out of her dumbfounded stare. Her father was asking her to kill her mother! Was this the reason why her mother's mother was dead? Had Eugene told her mother to kill her mother? And had Rapunzel obeyed?

This was not going to end like that. Sunflower had always tried to be like her mother in all ways but one. She had never tried to leave the tower, and she had always known that if she did, her mother might die. Now she knew how it had happened, how her mother's mother had died when Rapunzel had left the tower.

Sunflower would not do as her mother had done.

"No," she said. "I will not kill her."

Why did Eugene want Sunflower to kill her mother? He had been searching for her for years. Was that why Eugene was searching for her? Not to bring her back, but to kill her? And why did he think that Rapunzel wasn't Sunflower's real mother? He'd said it himself that Sunflower looked like her.

Suddenly, Eugene shouted out, "Gothel! She's right behind you!"

Sunflower looked behind her, shocked. But it wasn't her mother's mother behind her. It was her mother, wearing her cloak.


	15. Better To Know The Truth

Gothel?

Rapunzel looked behind her, hoping to see the woman who had raised her. But there was no one there. She frowned, close to tears. She usually never dared to hope that her mother was alive. But in that moment, she had hoped. And when that hope had been crushed, she nearly cried.

She knew that Eugene thought she was Gothel. Of course, she was wearing her mother's cloak.

Sunflower looked up at her. "Mother, he doesn't know! You don't have to..."

"It's better for him to know than to believe a lie," said Rapunzel. She stepped out of the shadows and pulled down her hood. "I'm not Gothel," she said.


	16. Pieces of the Puzzle

Eugene's breath caught in his throat. It was her, it really was. There was no denying it. She was wearing Gothel's cloak, and she had pulled the hood off so he could see that it was her. He swallowed hard. He thought he might never see her face again, but there she was, her hair short and brown, just as it had been the day he'd cut it off. Her eyes looked sad, and he wondered why.

"Rapunzel, it's really you," he said. "After all these years, I've finally found you."

Rapunzel smiled, but he could see that her eyes were still sad.

Then a new thought came to his mind. Sunflower had called her Mother. Was she...?

"Sunflower, is she your mother?" asked Eugene.

Sunflower smiled. "Yes... Father."

Eugene didn't have time to be surprised, because all of the sudden, he had a concerning realization. Gothel must have taken Rapunzel, and when Sunflower was born, she had used her for her hair!

"Rapunzel, you need to get out of here!" Eugene cried. "Gothel..."

Rapunzel opened her mouth. "Eugene, she's dead," she said. "Please stop talking about her."

Then, a tear ran down her face.

Eugene ran to her without thinking and wiped the tear off her face. "What's wrong, Rapunzel?" he asked.

Rapunzel looked at him, more tears in her eyes. Eugene felt terrible. He could not figure out what was making her so sad. Sunflower looked up at him with a confused look on her face, and he felt like there was a big, sad secret that only he didn't know about.

Then the pieces of the puzzle slowly began coming together.

Sunflower's mother was overprotective. It wasn't Gothel, as he had thought. Her mother was Rapunzel.

"Rapunzel, are you the one who's keeping Sunflower locked up in here?" he asked.

Rapunzel nodded through her tears.

"But why?" he asked.

She didn't answer.

"Come back with me," said Eugene. "I don't know who took you away or why you're sad, but everything will be alright when you come back."

"No," said Rapunzel. "I can't go back."

Eugene looked at her. "Why?"

Then he had a terrible thought. It was because of him, wasn't it? She'd not been stolen, she'd run away. And it had to have been because of him.

"You left because of me, didn't you?" he asked. "And you kept Sunflower locked up in here so she wouldn't ever meet me. You don't realize that you're keeping her here just like Gothel kept you in here!"

Rapunzel wiped her tears. "I do realize," she said flatly. "And I didn't leave because of you."

That didn't make any sense to Eugene, the first part. If she realized, why did she continue to do so?

The silence went on until Rapunzel looked at Eugene. "You really don't know, do you?" she said, with anger in her voice. "That whole year I was with you, you didn't realize? You didn't see what I was going through?"

Eugene shook his head.

But then the last piece of the puzzle clicked in, and he suddenly saw.

He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen the sadness that whole year. And as if he hadn't seen, Rapunzel began to explain.

"I lost my mother, the one who loved me most, and they didn't care. There are so many things I miss about her. She used to brush my hair. Now I barely even have hair to brush. And it was my fault she died. I have lived with that guilt for so many years, and when I was there, they didn't even acknowledge that she had existed. So I came back here, where we had lived. I had to get away from there, don't you see?

When Sunflower was born, I gave her all my mother gave me. I didn't have my mother, but she had her mother. I tried to live up to my mother's example, and she turned out much better than me, I think. When I was her age, all I wanted was to leave the tower. And she, she doesn't even have a desire to. If only my mother'd had her as a daughter instead of me. Then she would still be alive today."


	17. Everyone Must Die

Sunflower looked up at her mother, who had been crying for a long time after she had finished telling everything to Eugene. She wrapped her arms around her mother.

"I love you," she said.

Rapunzel looked at her, and said, crying, "I love you more."

Sunflower smiled. "I love you most."

Then they were just sitting there on the floor, hugging each other.

Eugene bent down and lifted her mother's chin. "Gothel isn't your real mother, you know," he said. "And your real parents miss you just as much as you miss Gothel."

Wait, what?

Gothel wasn't her mother's real mother?

But she couldn't think over this new information, because her mother began yelling at Eugene. She was angry, angrier than Sunflower had ever seen her.

"How could they miss me more than I miss her?" Mother yelled. "For eighteen years, Mother cared for me, and I loved her! They only had me for one year, and they didn't even care about me! And also, even if she wasn't my real mother, she was a lot better of a mother than my parents are!"

Sunflower looked up at her mother. "Mother..."

Her mother looked at her. "Flower..."

Eugene looked at her mother. "I have to take you back," he said. "They need you. Your kingdom needs you. I need you."

"You are the only one on that list that I need," said her mother. "If the rest of them weren't there, I wouldn't have left. But I can't go back. I don't want to see them ever again."

"Mother," said Sunflower. "Who are they? Why did he say something about a kingdom? Do you have a kingdom?"

"She is the princess of Corona," said Eugene. "Rapunzel, even if you can't go back, you can't keep your daughter from going. She's a princess too, and she can rule the kingdom after your parents are gone."

Rapunzel sighed. She looked very tired in that moment, though Sunflower had just sung to her a few hours ago. "I guess I can't keep you from the throne," she said. "Do you want to go?"

Sunflower frowned. Although having a kingdom sounded great, she couldn't just leave her mother all alone in the tower. She loved her mother more than anything else in the world.

"No," said Sunflower. "I will stay here."

Rapunzel smiled, and Sunflower knew she'd done the right thing. But her happiness went away when Eugene said, "Well, I guess I have to go back. The kingdom needs someone to be king when the king and queen are gone."

Sunflower watched as her mother was going to kiss her father goodbye forever. She could not let this happen! She could tell her mother wanted her father to stay. And she wanted her father too.

"No!" cried Sunflower. "Don't go! Let the kingdom disappear. Stay here with us. I can keep us alive forever with my hair."

Eugene looked at her. "No," he said. "The kingdom needs to stay alive. And everyone must die someday."


	18. Goodbye Father

Rapunzel saw Eugene get closer to Sunflower. He was about to touch her hair when Rapunzel realized what he was about to do. Of all the things Rapunzel wished she could have back, her long blonde hair was second only to her mother. She could not let Eugene take that away from her daughter.

"Eugene, no!" she cried. She grabbed his hand, and the knife he had been holding fell out of his hand.

Sunflower jumped back, obviously afraid.

"Eugene, of all the things I miss, my hair is one of the things I miss most," said Rapunzel. "I can't let you take that away from my Flower."

Eugene frowned. "Rapunzel, nobody can live forever," he said.

"My mother tried," said Rapunzel. "And she would have done it if I hadn't been such a horrible daughter. I thought we could be a happy family. But if you're going to try and cut my daughter's hair, I can't let you stay here."

"Rapunzel, you've changed," said Eugene. "You've become too much like Gothel. I thought you loved your daughter, but I guess you only care about her hair."

Rapunzel shook her head. "You do not understand," she said. "I care about her more than the hair. If she wants to cut her hair, so be it. But if someone else tries to, that's not going to happen."

"Rapunzel, I'm sorry, but I can't stay here," said Eugene. "I love you. I won't tell anyone about where you are. Goodbye."

They kissed, then, and after making sure Eugene didn't have any other things to cut Sunflower's hair with, Rapunzel let them hug each other. Then he climbed out the window, and left the hidden valley.

Rapunzel and Sunflower cried for days.


	19. Happy Birthday

It was Sunflower's birthday, and she was turning eighteen. She knew now all her mother's secrets, and why she hadn't wanted to tell them to her.

Saying goodbye to her father had been very difficult. She had always wanted a father, and now that she had one, it had been very hard to let him go. But it wasn't like she never saw him again. He brought them everything they needed from the outside world, and so her mother never had to leave the tower.

Sunflower had awoken on her birthday, and saw her mother already awake, cleaning the tower. She was singing a song that Sunflower had often heard her sing while doing the morning chores.

"Mother," said Sunflower.

Her mother looked at her. "Hello, Flower. Would you like to help me with the chores?"

"Mother!" said Sunflower. "Today is my birthday!"

Her mother looked at her. "Your birthday? But I distinctly remember. Your birthday was last year."

Sunflower laughed. "Mother, birthdays are every year!"

Her mother smiled. "I know, Flower. I was just teasing. I'm making apple pie!"

Sunflower grinned. She loved apple pie.

"I love you, Flower," said her mother.

"I love you more," said Sunflower.

Her mother opened her arms. "I love you most."


End file.
